A BUTCHER is turning culled Cumbrian squirrels into pies as part of a campaign against wasting food.

Whatever your feelings are on the divisive garden visitor that is the grey squirrel, John Mettrick does not want to see them go to waste.

The Glossop butcher said the pies had been a real success, so much so that they were selling like hot cakes from his Derbyshire shop.

"It started off as a novelty but it's gone down well," he added. "There are two camps, some customers like it although some people think they're like rodents. I prefer to compare it to a rabbit rather than a rat!"

John, of JW Mettrick and Sons, initially got involved in the campaign when he received a call from TV star Jamie Oliver's production company.

"I got a call regarding Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast which does a feature about getting people to stop wasting food, and this one was about squirrels," he said. "They are being culled for environmental reasons, to protect populations of red squirrels and they can pass on diseases.

"Squirrel carcasses are just being thrown away. Deer do damage to the environment but we wouldn't throw venison away, so it's the same principle."

And after dining on squirrel ragu and pie at the celebrity chef's South End cafe, John settled on serving the cute little creatures encased in pastry.

"I thought it was the best way to present it to my customers," he said. "We said we realised this was a bit left field, but if it gets people over the threshold, they may buy more."

Using squirrels that have been culled in the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria, the butcher cooks them for seven to eight hours before pulling the meat off the bones and adding them back to the stock with winter vegetables.

Even better for those with their health in mind, squirrel meat is high in protein and low in fat.

Having sold out of his current batch, John will continue to buy squirrels in and says it will not be long until butchers in Cumbria jump on the bandwagon too.

Stuart Higginson, of Higginsons of Grange, said although he did not have any of the squirrels on his menu, he would "certainly" be interested in selling them.